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Moi!!!

Define ‘the good life’. Dunno what your version is, but for me it’s a culmination of mouth-watering food (mostly sinful and sometimes healthy), fashionable clothes for every occasion (you’re allowed to go haywire more than just once) travelling (slumping on the couch counts for part of the good life too), and cinema (TV included).
This blog, my friends, is about living life to the hilt and learning a lot on the way. If you have anecdotes to add to my tales, puhleeez, feel free to do so.

Tag Archives: Bandra

The festive season is here and I see everyone in a mad rush to get designer clothes, beautify their homes and keep mithai and gifts ready to distribute. But none of these will matter if you feel tired and worn out on the festival days itself. All the prep-ing can bog you down, snatching away that glow from your face. How do you get it back? Steal some ‘ME’ time in all this madness and head straight to a spa. Better still, head to Saks Salon and Day Spa, which has just opened its second outlet in Andheri, Link Road. The first one is in Bandra. You’ll be surprised at how just entering a serene space like a spa can calm your tired nerves. The biggest advantage that Saks has is its gigantic space. A lavish 6,000 sq ft area, the Andheri outlet is segregated into manicures and pedicures areas, facial rooms, hair treatments and the like. The first floor is for face and body related treatments, while hair care is restricted to the ground level. The second floor is for administrative staff.
Stark white interiors invite you to further calm your senses and indulge yourself. The spa and facial rooms have an attached steam room, so unlike in most other spas, you don’t have to parade around wrapped in a towel till you reach a common steam room, located in another corner of the spa!
Saks also gets full marks when it comes to cleanliness and hygiene. One normally assumes that international salons follow high standards of hygiene but it is not always the case. If I had a dime for every time my friends and I saw dirty towels lying around or almost threw up seeing masseurs rinsing used mixing bowls.
Saks, UK’s leading hair and beauty salon, thankfully, lives up to its reputation. The face tissues used are disposed off and the towels touching your face are warm, freshly steamed. Hygiene is a big concern with me and I avoid going to spas and salons that use cold towels and have equipment just lying around. I didn’t find myself worrying about nitty-gritties like these at Saks and that is a good sign.
The menu is crisp and designed keeping in mind what men and women want out of a spa outing. There is a separate section for Kerastase Rituals, which will take care of all your hair related worries, with their volumising and purifying rituals. The 90 minute Kerastase Rituals are priced at Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000. Next on the menu are youth specials, a variety of high performance facials and body wraps to rejuvenate tired senses.
I went for the Luminous C and Sea high performance facial. Its aim is to provide absolute radiance, reduce lines and strengthen elasticity. It also provides relief for sun damaged skin, Vitamin C and freeze dried sea weed are clubbed to give a smooth complexion and luminous glow… just what I needed to sail me through Diwali festivities.
The expert wasted no time in showing me to the facial room, adjusted the air-condition cooling to my comfort and started right away. A cleanse and then the faciaI, I could feel her hands swirling my cheeks, oddly in rhythm with the mellow sound of the music in the background.
A 75 minute ritual, the facial lasts till the very last minute. The spa therapist told me not to wash my face till the next morning, to allow the ingredients to work their magic on my skin. I abided and to be honest, there was a visible glow on my face the next morning. I guess the technicians at Saks know what they’re doing, after all. And I’m all set for a glowing start to Diwali celebrations.

This is an easy to prepare Broccoli and Almond Soup recipe. However, the preparation may take up a bit of your time. Don’t get worked up, the end result is worth the effort.

The following recipe is courtesy Chef Amit Chaudhary, CORNICHE restaurant in Bandra, Mumbai.

Broccoli florets

Broccoli and Almond Soup (Serves 1)

INGREDIENTS:

Broccoli Paste

Garlic

Onion

Celery

Butter

Cream

Salt

White Pepper Powder 01 gms

Fresh Oregano

Almond Paste

Parmesan Cheese

To make 200 gms Broccoli paste:

Blanched Broccoli

Garlic

Onion

Oregano

Butter

Cream

To make 200 gms Almond paste :

Almond

Cream

140 gms

To make 200 ml Veloute:

Butter

Refined Flour (Maida) 30 gms

Vegetable Stock

To make 200 ml Vegetable Stock:

Water

Carrots

Celery

Onions

Garlic

Black Pepper Corn

Bayleaf

Leeks

NOTE: Any other vegetables may be added as per the requirement.

Soak almonds in water overnight to soften them

METHOD:

1) To make the broccoli paste, blanch the broccoli and set aside. Now take butter in a pan, sauté the
onion and garlic till golden brown, add the broccoli, oregano and toss together. Now add the cream and
remove from the flame. Once it cools, make a fine paste.

2) Take the almonds and soak in water for about 30 minutes, remove from water and peel the skin. Now
take water in a pan and blanch the almonds till soft and finally make a paste by using cream to give it
texture.

3) To prepare the veloute, take butter in a pan and melt it. Once it melts, add the flour and cook. Avoid
cooking till it gets a colour.

4) On the side keep your vegetable stock ready by simmering all the ingredients in a pot till you get an
aroma and the stock is clear and without colour. Now add the cold stock to the warm butter and flour
mixture and blend well making sure that no lumps are formed.

5) Finally to prepare the soup, take the onion, garlic and celery chopped finely in a pan of melted butter
and cook till soft and tender. Now add the broccoli paste and oregano simmer it for some time then add
the almond paste to the mix. Add the veloute and cream and cook till the desired thickness is attained.

6) Finish it with salt and pepper for taste and serve in a soup bowl, garnish it with grated parmesan
cheese.